In the times of post-post-irony and plethora of sad-boy internet memes, Worth the Sorrow arises as an 8-track album with jittery instrumentation in a carefully mastered virtual environment that makes me feel like I’m a recycled meme that’s gone through 10 too many Instagram filters. However, this album takes a turn and dives deeper to describe internet culture and ‘the shining youth’ while delving into meme-culture through what I would imagine sounds like an alternate soundtrack to the hyper-portal Boat Ride that those kids go through in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (except maybe minus the overarching memography/internet era since that shit didn’t exist back then).

The vocals by solo-project artist Ben McCarthy are deep and crisp, while the crazy instrumentals take the listener on a unique ride that shows a glimpse of Canada’s small (but growing!) avant-pop scene. Tracks such as ‘Cyberian Anthem (Threnody for the OCAD Youth)’ have a beautiful build-up. This short (32 min) album’s overall sound appears to be influenced by 8-bit chiptune music and synth-pop in a unique blend. So much so that media artist Jonathan Carroll (Tough Guy Mountain) is creating an 8-stage video game aimed at capturing the post-internet aesthetic of this record!

I’m quite glad the album turned out the way it did. It really is an artistic reflection of today’s digitalization. At some points, the vocals sounded a little too deep for the atmosphere that Ben may have been trying to set. However, the final mix delivered a result that was avant and captivating enough to keep me wanting more. I expected shallow references to memes that would be outdated by my next birthday, but found a kind of compilation of stories that branched out into so much more.